Wednesday, January 13, 2016

This week was a
little different because we had changes on Thursday. We have new areas in the mission.

On Monday, we went
to play basketball in a real gymnasium with 9 elders and about 20 youth. One of the young men in our ward plays on a
club team. He was able to get us in and we
played for a few hours. I had a few nice
shots from the outside! After that, we
went to a hermana’s house with some of the Elders to eat breakfast. On the way home to Tecalco, there was a lady
selling flowers and one of the Elders bought me flowers for my birthday. It was very nice of him b/c his companions
were like, “You don’t even have money for food, why are you buying
flowers?” After breakfast, we played UNO
and this other card game that I don’t know what it is called. It was so fun.

On Tuesday and
Wednesday, we worked and visited.
Wednesday night, a brother bought pizza for my birthday and invited the
Elders and a young man named Jorge that always accompanies the
missionaries. We also went to our
mission leader’s house to say goodbye.
They took pictures with us. My
companion had asked for a blessing from our mission leader earlier in the
week. I don’t ask for blessings very
often but I felt prompted to ask. I am
kind of prejudiced to my dad’s blessings.
However, I was feeling a little stressed about opening a new area and so
I asked Hermano Harold for a blessing.
The blessings lasted like 10 minutes.
I think I will remember it as one of the really cool experiences of my
mission. He said things that I really
needed to hear. Things I had been
praying and thinking about for a while and had not received clear understanding
about. He said that I would be blessed
to only look back to see things that I had improved upon. That was something I needed to hear because
sometimes I look back and think “Ah, I did that wrong” or “I could have done
that better.” It isn’t necessarily bad
but sometimes I stress over it and Satan can use it to discourage and distract
me. I was really happy to hear those
words and know they were coming from the Lord.
He also said, “I can see that God has given you a lot of blessings and
that he has more in store for me.” I
wondered if that meant he saw that with his spiritual eyes or was it something
he observed being with us. I have
realized on the mission that the Lord has blessed me so much. When I say that, I mostly refer to my family.
I have a really cool family.

Thursday morning as
we were getting ready, Jorge came to say goodbye. Jorge is a youth that would accompany us and
he is crazy good at teaching. He has a
gift for teaching and talking but like to the point where our investigators
were left with their mouths hanging open.
He has the knowledge of an 80 year old general authority. Ah … we love him lots and we will miss him!

A few minutes
later, Hermano Harold showed up to say goodbye and give us some last minute
advice. He said, “Hermanas, who am I
going to hang out with now?” (Hermano
Harold is the ward mission leader in one of the wards that Courtney is serving
in. He recently returned home from his
mission 2 months ago.) We were with his
family for Christmas and New Years and he accompanied us often. We were like, “It is time for you to make
more friends and to find a girlfriend.”
We pray for him that he will find good ones soon.

The family that
lives in front of us came to say goodbye.
It was nice of them. I am going
to miss the grandmother because she always told funny stories and checked on
us.

When we went to
Cuautla, we traveled in a bus. As we
were going, it was quiet because the view was changing into something we don’t
see very often. GREEN! We got to the stake center and it had palm
trees and it looked like a little resort.
We went with the sisters to our area and they showed us around and then
they left the next morning. Our area is
HUGE! To get to our lessons we walk so
much and it is HOT! I have blisters all
over my feet. It sounds ridiculous but
sometimes my body hurts so bad from the sun and walking and carrying my bag
that I just want to cry. I feel like I
am on the trek again.

Our house is very
RAD! It reminds me of a chilled pad in
Costa Rica J. I’ll send pics soon. The bathroom has no door. It is great, the people here accept our contacts! I have asked for directions all day long and
they help us! It is so cool. I love Mexico!

This Sunday we
spoke in church and we taught gospel principles. Our investigator cried in Gospel Principles
today when we were talking about God’s love.
She said that when she was little she prayed for a brother, but her Mom
was having trouble having children. She
prayed and prayed and her Mom was able to have a son, and she had a
brother. Her brother is also an
investigator and he was sitting next to her.
It was like “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” We
taught another family on Saturday and helped her children with their English
homework. She was so happy that she
accompanied us all day today. We visited
another family and he was like “I feel so happy, can you come visit our family
every week?” We contacted a woman in the
street and she gave us free horchata and tacos.
SCORE!

We are sad to leave
our old area and excited for our new area at the same time. We are ready to work!! Thank you for your prayers, letters, and
support! I love you!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

I taught everyone how to play Uno, American Style or how the Johnson Family plays (lightning speed).

They loved it!

Here, they celebrate New Years by having
big dinners and they dance and light fireworks all night. I was able to
play bball for a couple hours and then we ate a huge dinner with the family of
our mission leader. Today, we played bball in a real gym with like 30
jovenes and elders. It was good to play on a real court. We had to
say goodbye to our investigators. I have changes coming. They are
closing Tecalco. The members are great and they will be able to do the
work on their own !! We have one that we have been teaching and she
started crying and it was hard. She was the one that said she had to go to the
mountain to pray. Her prayers are the most sincere things I have ever heard.
Its like she is sitting in the presence of God when she says them. She hasn't
received an answer yet, but she is definitely looking for the truth and I know
she will find it. I am going to Cuatla with an American companion and I am
still a training leader. The areas of the mission have changed and I will be
opening this new area. It is suppose to be a really great city.
Love you !!

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And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which we are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." helaman 5:12